IE - Intuitive vs. Impulsive Eating

There is a common misconception about IE - that IEers eat whatever they want, whenever they want and how much they want. We're often thought of as junk food junkies who need an excuse to eat. But IE does not mean any of those things and I want to ask people how they handle their cravings because we do have cravings and get faced with temptations and we don't always indulge ourselves believe it or not. We strive to eat a balanced diet.

I've heard a lot of people say "if I followed my intuition it would cause me to eat junk food all day." That's not IE, that's impulsive eating. That's just losing control of yourself rather than building the skills you need to decide whether you really want to eat at all.

So how do you control your cravings?

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"No matter how developed you are in any other area of your life, no matter what you say you believe, no matter how sophisticated or enlightened you think you are, how you eat tells all." - Geneen Roth

I eat what makes me feel good. I'm slowly discovering for the first time which foods make me feel good after eating and which foods don't. I'm not talking about emotionally, either. Let's say that I'm having a craving for a dish of ice cream. I think about what it would feel like to eat it instead of something like chicken soup. Ice cream will give me lots of quick energy but it makes my heart beat quickly and I'll probably be hungry for something in a few short hours. A scoop of ice cream after a more balanced meal, however, will make me feel satisfied.

When I first started IE I let myself eat what I craved. It was an important part of the process for me. I found that after a few meals of candy and ice cream I was seriously craving vegetables, fat, and protein. As I began to regard foods as the same emotionally I began eating for how things made my body feel rather than my mind. I'm not perfect. I still overeat sometimes, but my relationship to food is much better and more mindful than before.

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"Things are as they are. Looking out into it the universe at night, we make no comparisons between right and wrong stars, nor between well and badly arranged constellations." - Alan Watts

Cravings are easy, you let them build up and when they are definite you just do it, like I did with my cheeseburger the other day. I was so satisfied and I didn't really want that much to eat the next day. Very fulfilling.

Harder for me is that lack of satisfaction "want something" feelings. Not exactly impulsive but very unproductive and I'm not hungry (nor full usually). It helps me a lot to eat a MEAL and not graze through the day. If I get that have to have something at night thing, a cup of decaf coffee with warm milk sometimes works all by itself to fill that not hungry but wanting something urge. Sometimes I have a granola bar, small scoop of ice cream or a dark chocolate to rather "end" the day with satisfaction. But I try to keep it to that and not keep nibbling.

Cravings are easy, you let them build up and when they are definite you just do it, like I did with my cheeseburger the other day. I was so satisfied and I didn't really want that much to eat the next day. Very fulfilling.

Yes. This is what I do, too; I just wasn't able to put it into words. Most of the time I'm satisfied with whatever I have on hand. Chicken and a salad? Okay. Berries and yogurt? Sure. Sometimes, though, I just get a flashing neon sign in my head that says something like "LAMB SANDWICH" and it goes on and off for a few days. It's not like I'm grabbing my house keys and rushing to go get it when it first comes on. It just sort of sits there until I have the opportunity. It's Saturday afternoon and I'm walking downtown- I'm hungry and there is one of my favorite Persian places. "LAMB SANDWICH"- perfect, the planets have aligned and I have the urge and the opportunity to sit down and tuck into a food that I've been wanting for a bit.

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"Things are as they are. Looking out into it the universe at night, we make no comparisons between right and wrong stars, nor between well and badly arranged constellations." - Alan Watts

Cravings are easy, you let them build up and when they are definite you just do it, like I did with my cheeseburger the other day. I was so satisfied and I didn't really want that much to eat the next day. Very fulfilling.

Harder for me is that lack of satisfaction "want something" feelings. Not exactly impulsive but very unproductive and I'm not hungry (nor full usually). It helps me a lot to eat a MEAL and not graze through the day. If I get that have to have something at night thing, a cup of decaf coffee with warm milk sometimes works all by itself to fill that not hungry but wanting something urge. Sometimes I have a granola bar, small scoop of ice cream or a dark chocolate to rather "end" the day with satisfaction. But I try to keep it to that and not keep nibbling.

Yes I agree! Cravings are easy now - if they're real I go for it. It takes me a while to sit with a craving before I realize that it's real though. I make sure that I am truly hungry. Once a craving and real hunger collide then it's game on. But sometimes cravings come when I'm not hungry and that's pretty easy to ignore now.

I do know what you mean with the "I want something" feelings. I've found a very flavorful cinnamon-spiced tea that really hits the spot for me. It's warm, it's fragrant, it's calming and it fulfills that desire to sooth myself with something.

__________________

"No matter how developed you are in any other area of your life, no matter what you say you believe, no matter how sophisticated or enlightened you think you are, how you eat tells all." - Geneen Roth

I've been recently introduced to the concept of intuitive eating and started following it at the beginning of this year. It has helped me a lot and it's the 1st strategy that's actually helpfull in my path to overcome binge eating. Impulsive eating has been my reality for half of my life and it is completely diferent from intuitive eating. Impulsive eating makes me feel bad as it is a destructive behaviour while intuitive eating makes me feel healthy, energetic and in touch with my phisiology.

I've lost weight and am learning what my body signs are. I still have a problem with binge eating ocasionally and sometimes i'm not sure if i should trust my feelings about wanting to eat something. This tends to happen with sugary food. I'm slowly getting to know my body. Most of the times i know if i will feel sick if i eat an specific food, but its a work in progress right now. I guess it must get easier...!